At 23, heavyweight Luis Henrique not in a hurry to climb up UFC ladder: 'I hope to fight until I'm 40'

When it comes to longevity, Luis Henrique has ex-champ and all-time great Anderson Silva as a role model. But he doesn’t have to go that far up the MMA Olympus to find inspiration.

Set to take on Marcin Tybura (14-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 209, Henrique (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will have one of his big examples right there, in his corner, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas: UFC middleweight Thiago “Marreta” Santos (14-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC), who relied on steel focus to beat the odds for his unlikely UFC ascent.

“‘Marreta,’ man, he’s an example at our gym (Rio de Janeiro’s TFT team),” Henrique told MMAjunkie ahead of the FS1-televised preliminary card heavyweight scrap. “To me, he was the biggest example because he was the first guy from our crew to make it to the UFC. I took him as an example for myself. I looked at him, making it into the UFC, and nothing was impossible for us.

“I saw if he made it, any of us could make it. I even tried to follow in his footsteps. Wherever he was training, I wanted to go train, too – take him as an example in order to make it.”

While he’s made it to a certain extent, Henrique knows there is still quite a way to go. But, hoping to add a third win to the streak he started after an unsuccessful debut against Francis Ngannou, he’s already reaping the financial benefits of being signed to a major promotion after years in the local circuit.

That means small luxuries like, say, not having to fret over the money to pay for his bus fare to get to the gym.

“I have other examples at the gym that I see to this day, with my friends, and I know how hard it is to run after your dream, fight for tickets and all, and (having) the dream feed you, really, when you don’t think you’ll be able to make it,” Henrique said. “And when you do make it, you must hold on to it tooth and nail. And that is what I’m doing.

“At the gym, I give it my blood and sweat. I train like hell, so when I get to the fight nothing comes as a surprise.”

The dream, Henrique says, is what led him to make a big choice around two years ago. The Brazilian heavyweight, who was then pursuing a college degree in physical education, decided he could no longer split his time between training and the university, which was nowhere near his training facilities.

Something, he realized, had to give.

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“And I thought, ‘It’s better to pursue my dream,'” Henrique said. “I may not have gone as far as I wanted with my studies, but I knew I could come back when I wanted to. So I thought I had to follow my dream.

“It’s fighting, and thankfully I’m currently able to live off of it.”

While he’s taken some rather meaningful steps toward that dream, Henrique knows it’s still just beginning. That’s why, at 23, the Rio de Janeiro native remains patient when it comes to his future.

“Right now, I’m a guy who’s getting there,” Henrique said. “Getting there slowly, taking one step at a time. I’m the youngest in the division, and I got into the UFC young, and I hope to fight until I’m 40 for them, hopefully.

“Do it like Anderson Silva, (who’s) 40-something and still fighting. I want to climb up the ranking. I want to win this fight, get my third win in a row, if God allows another submission – ascend the ranks slowly, making my way slowly to the belt.”

Henrique’s walk continues this Saturday, against Tybura. The two were first supposed to meet in New York at this past month’s UFC 208 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, before the local athletic commission ruled him unfit to compete due to an eye procedure he’d gotten done a year before.

Henrique understands the commission did what “they thought was right” and saw no point in questioning it. But, with a “feeling” that he’d get another call soon, he kept training. And not only did he land in Las Vegas, where he’d always dreamed to fight, but ended up with a rebooking against an opponent for which he was more than prepared.

“I kept training hard, sparring,” Henrique said. “I knew I was going to fight, and I was prepared for whatever happened. It happened to be me and Tybura again. It’s good, because it was the same game I’d been training for, and I’m ready to fight him.

“I think our games match up well. He’s a grappler, and so am I. (I want to) put on a show in there, and I’m certain I’m going to come out with the win.”